Ancient effigies are a part of the Distractions and Diversions released on the 15 June2010. They require nourishment which is supplied by knowledge in particular skills with a level range of 91 to 97, with there being four stages for each effigy. The reward from doing so is an amount of experience in the skill used to nourish that effigy, and after the fourth stage a dragonkin lamp appears, which grants experience in any skill relative to skill level.

The Assist System can be used to nourish one, if the owning player does not have the required level in either of the two skills the effigy requires. The assisting player, however, receives the experience for nourishing the effigy, although the owning player will receive the dragonkin lamp when the effigy is fully restored.

When an effigy is nourished, the skills its next level needs are reset. For example, an effigy that first wants nourishment in Hunter or Herblore will next want nourishment in two different skills.

Players can possess up to five effigies. They do not stack in the bank, regardless of what stage they are at or what skills they require. The more effigies a player owns, the less likely they are to receive another.

Since effigies can't be sorted by appearance, they can by sorted by placing them next to related materials in your bank. For example, an effigy which needs Construction assistance could be placed by some planks. Likewise, an effigy which requires Smithing assistance could be placed by ores and bars, and effigies which require Herblore assistance could be placed by potions or herbs, and so forth.

If a player does not possess the skill levels required to feed the effigy, and does not wish to search for someone to assist them in doing so, they can hand the effigy to Historian Minas on the first floor of the Varrock Museum in order to gain an antique lamp worth 5,000 experience to any skill over level 50. This is almost the same experience as using the dragonkin lamp in a skill of level 47. After the player has exchanged the effigy for a lamp and it is used, they receive a message that says they have gained xp, "but at what cost?", the same message from the dragonkin lamp.

Players who intend to swap an effigy for a lamp while carrying several effigies with them must be careful, because Minas will not exchange the effigy you used on him, but the one that comes first in your inventory. It is recommended that you do not bring effigies that you do not intend to swap.

Completing the Rebuilding Edgeville miniquest will allow players to have a chance at obtaining Effy when opening dragonkin lamps.

Contents

Effigy drop chance

There are no skill level requirements for a player to receive an effigy from a monster drop. The effigies are a rare drop, and are dropped by many low-level and high-level monsters alike. Receiving an effigy as a drop will show up on the player's Adventurer's Log and more than one can be held at one time. It has been confirmed that the ring of wealth does not affect the drop rate,[1] but killing a higher level monster will give a greater chance of receiving an effigy. Each effigy a player owns reduces the drop chance by around 20%, until five are owned, after which no more effigies can be obtained as a drop, but you are still able to get them from the Motherlode Maw.

Stages

Starved ancient effigies are received as rare drops from a range of creatures. An effigy will always be found in the starved stage, and as it progresses to each new stage, the skills required may change. Right click options on an effigy allows for instant stage progression, skipping the chat options, even during combat. There are 4 types of ancient effigies:

Starved ancient effigy - This will require at least a level of 91 in one of the two skills to investigate; after investigation it becomes nourished, rewarding 15,000 experience in the skill used.

Nourished ancient effigy - This will require at least a level of 93 in one of the two skills to investigate; after investigation it becomes sated, rewarding 20,000 experience in the skill used.

Sated ancient effigy - This will require at least a level of 95 in one of the two skills to investigate; after investigation it becomes gorged, rewarding 25,000 experience in the skill used.

Gorged ancient effigy - This will require at least a level of 97 in one of the two skills to investigate; after investigation it provides 30,000 experience in the skill used and, then crumbles to dust, leaving behind a dragonkin lamp.

The formula for the lamp is $ \frac{x^3-2x^2+100x}{20} $, in which $ x $ is the skill level. For example, at a skill level of 60, the experience gained would be $ \frac{60^3-2 \times 60^2+100 \times 60}{20}=10,740 $. A complete table can be found here. A rough estimate of the experience gained can be found by simply cubing the level and then dividing by 20.

After players have enlightened an entire ancient effigy - from its starved form to its gorged form - they will have received a total of 90,000 experience across the skills used and a Dragonkin lamp which has the same use as a regular experience lamp but with a larger amount of experience depending upon the level in the skill used.

Requirements

A player without the required level attempting to inspect an effigy.

Players will need various skills levels of 91, 93, 95, and 97 to feed the effigy with knowledge and retrieve the object stored within them. The level required depends on the stage that the effigy is in. If players do not have the required levels themselves, they can request assistance from other players via the Assist System, however not all skills are available in this system. If the Assist System is used, the assisting player will receive the experience instead, up to a cap of 30,000 experience before they no longer gain the experience points, though they can continue to assist without receiving any extra experience. Before PvP worlds were removed, ancient effigies couldn't be investigated on them.

Players will be able to get assistance in 1 skill out of each pair that an ancient effigy craves.

Boosts

Minimum levels

In order to open the effigies yourself, the following requirements need to be met, assuming maximum boosts are used, although all boosts are listed. This table reflects levels needed by players who are using boosts other than spicy stews or advanced pulse cores.

Trivia

When trading a starved effigy to Historian Minas, he mentions that he'll "have his top men look into this right away," to which your character replies, "Who?" To this, Minas only says "Top... men...", an almost direct quote from the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.

On 14 February 2012, the drop rate for ancient effigies was drastically reduced. Moreover, it is no longer possible for players to receive effigies if they have five or more in their bank or inventory. A message will now be displayed if the player has more than 5 effigies in their bank.

In the quest One of a Kind, shelves filled with Ancient effigies can be spotted in the laboratory of Kerapac.